Nordgold Increases Production at Suzdal Mine with Launch of HiTeCC (Hot Leach) Technology
- HiTeCC (High Temperature Caustic Conditioning or Hot Leaching) is an innovative Outotec technology, which enables to improve recovery of preg robbed gold from double refractory ores
- Suzdal is the second mine to use this technology worldwide and will be processing of both historical and future CIL tailings
- HiTeCC is expected to increase Suzdal production output by 9 −14 koz of gold doré per year for 10 years, or 90 −140 koz over the period
- HiTeCC life-of-mine AISC is expected to be approximately US$420 per ounce
Amsterdam, Netherlands, 8 June 2016 - Nord Gold N.V. ("Nordgold" or the "Company", LSE: NORD), the internationally diversified low-cost gold producer, is pleased to announce that it has launched an innovative Outotec HiTECC (Hot Leach) process at its Suzdal mine in Kazakhstan to recover gold from both historical and CIL future tailings.
Suzdal is the second mine worldwide to launch a commercial Outotec HiTeCC circuit. The installation of the innovative HiTeCC highlights the strength of Suzdal’s management team under Grigorii Iakovenko, General Director and deep technical expertise of Nordgold’s international processing team under Philip Engelbrecht, Director of Metallurgy. The first commercial Hot Leaching technology was constructed in 2009 at the Crocodile Gold Corp’s Fosterville BIOX® operation near Bendigo, Australia.
Suzdal produced 75.3 koz of gold in 2015. The HiTeCC circuit will produce an additional 9 −14 koz of gold doré per year for 10 years, a total of approximately 90 — 140 koz, generating additional profits. HiTeCC life-of-mine AISC is expected to be approximately US$420 per ounce. Suzdal AISC decreased to US$476/oz in Q1 2016 from US$575/oz in Q4 2015 and US$828/oz in Q1 2015.
“The launch of HiTeCC is an important technical milestone for Nordgold, highlights our strategy of pursuing operational excellence. Suzdal is a long-time pioneer in the implementation of the best and most innovative operating solutions and we are proud the mine becomes only the second in the world to launch this technology which will have very real financial benefits for the company, both extending the life of mine as well as increasing production. The launch of the new gold recovery circuit using an innovative HiTeCC technology is yet another confirmation of Suzdal’s leadership as a high-technology gold producer in CIS.” Nikolai ZelenskiChief Executive Officer of Nordgold
Construction of the new facility started in July 2015, and it will reach full operating capacity by the end of June 2016. HiTeCC will allow Suzdal to process more than 130 thousand tonnes of historical and future CIL tailings per year. Suzdal currently has 637 thousand tonnes of tailings at 7.17 g/t available for retreatment. Test results indicate the possible recovery rate of 40% to 70%.
Nordgold invested US$5.8 million in construction of the state-of-the-art 1,800 sqm HiTeCC facility. The Company expects to fully pay back this investment in less than 20 months (assuming gold price of US$1,200/oz and 350 tenge/US$ exchange rate).
For further information, please contact:
Nordgold
Valentina Bogomolova
Head of IR
Tel: +7 495 644 4473
Olga Ulyeva
Head of Media Relations
Tel: +7 495 644 4473
Powerscourt
Ian Middleton
Giles Read
Tessa Berry
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7250 1446